Even without restricting their escape, there was no way they could have escaped from the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast in just three sticks of incense time, not to mention now that they were not allowed to escape outside of the Thousand Ashes Gorge.

This was basically just sending them all to die!!!

Su Chen, Gu Qingluo, and the others were all infuriated.

Despite their anger, they could only grit their teeth and continue moving when faced with the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s furious pursuit.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast drew closer and closer.

With its strength, it could already begin attacking them at this distance.

However, the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast seemed to enjoy the thrill of the hunt. It was in no hurry to attack, and it continued to draw near the students.

Despair began to appear in Su Chen and the others’ eyes.

Yes, despair.

They couldn’t possibly hope to defeat it, and now they had no chance but to escape. When faced with such an impossibly difficult situation, what else could they do?

“Let’s just go all out!” Luo Jin yelled.

“No! Let’s wait for a bit and try to draw it to the Clay Giant so that they’ll duke it out!” Su Chen yelled back.

“That’s too far away. We won’t make it in time,” Gu Qingluo said as she glanced behind them.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast continued to draw closer.

When it opened its mouth, a gust of wind flew forth, transforming into dragon. Trees in its path were mowed down, and dust flew in its wake. The sky seemed to darken slightly under the influence of this attack.

This was a Demonic Beast of the lowest tier, but it was already able to unleash an unbelievable amount of power without much effort at all.

This was the power of the Origin Race, pampered by the Heavens!

Streaks of dragon-like wind howled forwards, surging at Su Chen and the others.

There was nothing the four of them could do other than try to forcefully endure the blow.

At this point, they couldn’t afford to not go all out even if they wanted to.

Gu Qingluo’s body suddenly shot forwards as she activated the Snaking Mist Steps. A handful of willow leaves shot out of her hands, turning into sharp needles as they whistled towards the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast. At the same time, Wei Bin, Luo Jin, and Su Chen all unleashed their own Origin Skills, generating a powerful torrent of energy.

Even so, when their Origin Skills drew close to the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast, all it did was open its mouth and howl. The ensuing blast of air sent Gu Qingluo’s willow leaves, Wei Jin’s Heaven and Earth sword, Luo Jin’s Red Cloud Palms, and Su Chen’s Erupting Firehawk flying away.

Their dazzling Origin Skills were as trivial as spray from the ocean when compared with the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s might.

An instant later, the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast opened its mouth again, this time sending numerous large air tentacles at them.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s ability to control wind far exceeded their expectations.

The four of them hurriedly retreated.

Gu Qingluo’s hands continued to sway back and forth, pushing out in front of her. A radiant, cold light suddenly shone in front of her, and the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s movements began to slow. Finally, it become completely encased in ice, and it stopped moving.

This was the Gu Clan’s third Absolute Skill, Waterstar Chill.

Upon seeing this scene, Wei Bin and Luo Jin let out excited yells.

In the next instant, however, the ice began to slowly crack. Waterstar Chill could not control the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast for much longer.

Gu Qingluo was shocked. She continued to direct the Origin Energy in her body, and a massive image of a Soaring Serpent appeared behind her. Evidently, she was revolving the energy within her body to its absolute limit.

However, the layer of ice continued to slowly crack.

The large cracks in the ice continued to spread and multiply. Finally, the ice shattered apart with a bang.

“AH!” Gu Qingluo yelled as she flew into the air.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast opened its mouth wide, and a massive air tentacle snaked its way towards Gu Qingluo, latching onto her.

“QINGLUO!” Su Chen howled.

He watched as Gu Qingluo was wrapped up by the tentacle and slowly dragged towards the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s mouth. The beast opened its mouth wide as if it were about to swallow her whole. Wei Bin and Luo Jin were frozen stiff from fear.

Bang!

Smoke exploded everywhere.

A Thunderfire Ball landed on the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast.

It was not particularly powerful, and it only left a small scorch mark on the beast’s skin.

Su Chen pulled out a vial of medicine and poured it on himself.

Beast Drawing Medicine.

At the same time, he curled his finger at the Demonic Beast and gestured disdainfully at it.

He said, “Come at me, you bastard! If you have the guts, come for me!”

The attack, the mocking gestures, and the Beast Drawing Medicine all attracted its attention.

“Quiet, this is the only way to survive!” Su Chen yelled as he tossed another strengthened Erupting Firehawk at the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast.

The strengthened Erupting Firebird was quite powerful, and even a Demonic Beast would feel some pain if struck by it. It pounced at Su Chen, enraged, and it chased after him into the forest.

“Su Chen!!!” Gu Qingluo yelled out sorrowfully.

She wanted to chase after him, but Wei Bin and Luo Jin grabbed her and pulled her off to the side. Su Chen had already drawn away the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast. Chasing after him now would only lead to death.

————————

As he ran furiously, Su Chen increased his speed to its limit.

Unfortunately, no matter how much energy he used, he could not escape the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast because of its incredible control over wind.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast seemed to enjoy toying with Su Chen. It chased after him without any sense of urgency.

After chasing him for quite a while, it seemed to grow impatient.

It spit out a wind blade.

Whoosh!

The wind blade sliced into Su Chen’s back.

The magic barrier shattered, and Su Chen was sent flying.

As he flipped through the air, he tilted his hand backwards, and a strengthened Erupting Firehawk flew forth from his hand. This was the only attack he had used so far that could at least injure the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast.

It tilted its head back and howled, increasing its speed to arrive right in front of Su Chen and opening its mouth to bite him just as Su Chen was about to land.

As it opened its mouth, however, Su Chen’s eyes suddenly began to shine. “Die!”

A fist slammed right into the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast.

Armor-Piercing Awl!

Su Chen had been waiting for this opportunity the entire time. He utilized his opponent’s arrogance to try and glean an opportunity to survive.

The iron-like fist surged with dangerous momentum. In that instant, even the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast was able to recognize that something was off.

It stopped its biting action and tilted its head to the side. Simultaneously, its skin began to take a crystalline, jade-like color and texture.

An instant later, Su Chen’s fist penetrated the crystalline skin, passing through the Cloudroam Beast’s face as if there were nothing there.

Armor-Piercing Awl!

And it wasn’t just Armor Piercing Awl. Su Chen’s fists glowed with a strange light, a muffled explosion of energy surging out from within the wounds.

Explosion Fists!

This was the fist technique Hong Ming had used against Uncle Eleven. It relied on compressing one’s Origin Energy to an extreme degree and then allowing it to explode all in one instant.

It did not have high penetrative ability, but it was frighteningly explosive. When paired with Armor Piercing Awl, the amount of damage it could do was almost inconceivable.

“AWOO!”

A pained howl resounded through the forest.

This was the first time that a beast had let out a howl of pain since the escape mission had commenced.

Its nose had been completely mangled.

A frighteningly large hole had been blasted into the side of its face.

This was perhaps the greatest success that any of the students from the Hidden Dragon Institute had experienced – seriously injuring a Demonic Beast with just the strength of a single person.

Even so, Su Chen did not feel any delight.

His heart sank after seeing the result of his fist strike.

He had still failed in the end, hadn’t he?

Su Chen’s original plan had been to directly punch through its eyes all the way to its brain, killing it in one blow.

This was also the only chance he would have of turning the tables. Even so, he himself knew that the chances of success were low.

Indeed, he had still failed. Even though he had destroyed the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s nose and had inflicted heavy damage, the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast’s strength had not been affected at all. Having caught it off guard once, there was no way that Su Chen could possibly succeed twice.

In reality, even if the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast allowed him to hit it again, it was unlikely that he would be able to replicate his success. His previous blow had expended too much of his blood and Qi.

Su Chen could hear his bones audibly crack as the paw slammed into him, sending him skidding across the ground.

He spit out a mouthful of blood. His entire body was wracked with pain, and he found it difficult to even move.

Those palm strikes had at least broken six of his ribs.

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast slowly stalked forwards.

This time, it did not soar through the air. Instead, it kept its feet solidly on the ground.

It continued forward slowly step by step, its energy rising, bringing about an aura of death.

At the same time, large amounts of Demonic Qi began to seep out from its body and gather around the wound. Su Chen watched as its mangled nose began to regenerate!

The wound that he had expended so much energy to create had completely disappeared!

Su Chen’s heart chilled.

He had heard before that Demonic Beasts were much different from Vicious Beasts, but it wasn’t until he observed this that he realized just how vast the difference was.

When faced with such an existence, wanting to kill it with his current strength was a joke!

At this moment, the Jade-eyed Cloudroam Beast drew near Su Chen, lowering its head as it stared at him coolly.

Whoosh!

It blew out a mouthful of air, blowing aside the Thunderfire Ball that Su Chen was concealing in his hand.

Su Chen finally felt hopelessness.

This Thunderfire Ball looked the same as all of the others, but it was composed of completely different medicinal ingredients that made it much more powerful. When his opponents thought it was just like any other Thunderfire Ball and neglected it, they would be met with a powerful blast. This was his final trump card – and his last resort.

But now, the Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast had blown it away.

Just as he was about to activate Fata Morgana without any regard for the consequences, the Demonic Beast suddenly stopped in its tracks.

It stared at Su Chen and said, “I won’t be overconfident anymore, even if it’s something that isn’t very powerful.”

Su Chen stared at it in surprise, his eyes wide. “You can talk?”

The Jade-Eyed Cloudroam Beast squinted its eyes. “Demonic Beasts have consciousness. Since we can think and have consciousness, naturally we can study human speech. Is it that strange that we know how to speak?”

As it spoke, it actually began to retreat step by step, its figure slowly fading into the distance. All that remained were its parting words, lingering in the air: “Consider yourself lucky, brat. This was only a test; otherwise, based on how much you injured me, I would have beaten you to a pulp!”